About Andrew Bacevich

Andrew J. Bacevich, Jr. is a professor of international relations at Boston University and a retired career officer in the United States Army. He is a former director of Boston University's Center for International Relations, and author of several books, including American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of US Diplomacy, The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War and The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. He has been "a persistent, vocal critic of the US occupation of Iraq, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure." In March 2007, he described George W. Bush's endorsement of such "preventive wars" as "immoral, illicit, and imprudent." His son, also an Army officer, died fighting in the Iraq War in May 2007.

There are people who view themselves on the Right, who were enthusiastic supporters of the war, who are now greatly concerned that the Bush administration or more in particular, the military, is losing its focus, its heart, and isn't fully committed, ... I think Bill Kristol ( search ) would be a good example of that.

There are people who view themselves on the Right, who were enthusiastic supporters of the war, who are now greatly concerned that the Bush administration or more in particular, the military, is losing its focus, its heart, and isn't fully committed, ... I think Bill Kristol would be a good example of that.

One wishes that he would say the problem is not simply a budgetary one. The problem is a structural one. The Republicans can properly fault the Clinton administration for giving so little attention to the restructuring of the post-Cold War force.

It really does seem to me the war is stalemated in that the enemy, which has shown great resilience, cannot defeat us militarily, but neither do we have the capacity to eliminate the insurgency through military means.